Harwin Gecko-SL horizontal male connectors

Harwin has extended its Gecko-SL (Screw-Lok) product range to include horizontal male connectors. The range is particularly suitable for engineers, offering a compact, lightweight alternative to conventional Micro-D connectors.

Specifying the male throughboard connector at 90° to the PCB offers additional layout flexibility to maximise space above the board. Connectors can now be located at a PCB edge, routing a mated cable sideways outside the PCB stack. A key application to benefit from this connection style is CubeSats, where many designs involve a series of PCBs in a dense stack, with all cabling routed into the space outside the stack. Similar tight space restrictions occur in avionics (particularly UAV design), larger satellites, military (such as radar and portable communication equipment), robotics and motorsport.

The horizontal connectors can also be used with female PCB connectors to give a motherboard/daughterboard arrangement, useful for replacement modular PCBs or larger equipment systems.

The horizontal format connectors are fitted with stainless steel Screw-Loks, designed to be mate-before-lock for ease of use — simply push the connectors fully together before engaging the screws. Engineers can choose the standard Screw-Lok with board-mount (with the engaging screw on the female connector) or the reverse-fix (with the engaging screw on the male connector). Pin counts match the rest of the Gecko-SL series, from six to 50 contacts.

The connectors have an operating temperature range from -65 to +150°C, exhibit strong vibration (20G at 2 kHz for 6 h) and shock (up to 100G) resilience, and show low outgassing, satisfying both NASA and ESA specifications. Current rating is set at 2.8 A max single contact, or 2 A per contact if all are loaded.